Print Version - Click here to return to the normal view. Print it!

Piven to star as comedian

From the Dark Horizons website, comes this heads up:

In his first proper film since “Narc,” Joe Carnahan will direct his script “Smokin’ Aces” for Working Title and Universal reports Variety.

Carnahan is casting the drama and targeting an October start date. Ryan Reynolds, Jeremy Piven and Alicia Keys in talks to star and Ben Affleck planning a small role.

Reynolds will play an FBI agent supervising a manhunt for a standup comedian (Piven) who has decided to squeal on the mob. Before he heads off into protective custody, the comic goes for one last hurrah in the casinos at Tahoe, drawing a crowd of assassins. Keys would make her screen starring debut as an assassin.

When was the last time a standup comedian was a main character in a movie? We’re talking major here, not Leonard Barr playing Shady Tree in “Diamonds Are Forever.”